Quick notes from Tuesday's practice

ANAHEIM -- Some quick notes from the Ducks' practice session on Tuesday at Honda Center ...

-- Some veteran NHL players have found themselves stuck in the American Hockey League for weeks on end if not for an entire season due to their high salaries or issues with management.

Niklas Hagman's stint in AHL purgatory lasted all of four days.

Claimed on Monday off waivers from the Calgary Flames, Hagman will need to obtain a work visa in order to earn his living in the United States and the process could take him beyond the upcoming back-to-back games against the Kings on Wednesday and Thursday.

"I'm happy to be here," said Hagman, who will need to soon fly to Canada and fill out the necessary paperwork at a United States consulate. "Obviously I need a little bit of a fresh start for my career. It's a good place to come. ... Hopefully I'll get my visa thing settled and I get to play."

Hagman, 31, has surpassed 20 goals three times and had 25 as recently as 2009-10 with Toronto and Calgary. But the struggles of last season with the Flames -- 11 goals and 16 assists in 71 games -- and the apparent youth movement that General Manager Jay Feaster wants to begin left the Finnish winger on the outside looking in.

The Ducks jumped on him when Calgary put him on re-entry waivers and was willing to pay half of Hagman's $3 million salary. "It'd be nice if he gets a work visa," Coach Randy Carlyle cracked. "And then he can play for us."

Turning more serious, Carlyle called Hagman "tenacious" and "competitive" who will chase after the puck.

"That's really what we're looking for," Carlyle said. "That's something I think comes natural to him. He has had success scoring goals in the league. Right now we're starved for goals and hopefully he can make a contribution in that area."

Though Feaster said on the Flames' website that his efforts to trade the left wing went awry because of his high salary, Hagman said he never asked for a trade and had hoped to make it work with them.

"Even though I felt like I had a really good preseason -- the start of the year went well ... it was too many bodies," he said. "I was kind of out of their future plans. It was obviously tough to be on the sidelines watching games.

"I'm confident when I get a chance ... I feel like when I get on the ice, that I'll hopefully help the team get some wins and kind of pretty much do whatever they want me to do. I'll try to help the team."

Teemu Selanne, who has played against Hagman for years and with him in the Olympics and other international competitions, strongly believe that there is a lot left in the tank.

"I thought it was going to be a comeback year [for him]," Selanne said. "He had a couple of real tough years. The way he's been practicing and doing his stuff in the summer to get ready, I thought for sure it was going to be a comeback year. I don't know how fair a chance he got in Calgary.

"He's an unbelievable skater. Fast. Strong like a bull. Brings a lot of energy. And you know what? He can score goals. He has really good skills and sometimes doesn't get enough credit. I believe it's just a confidence thing. He's going to be a big help for us."

Hagman said he was glad to get another NHL opportunity quickly as he's seen veteran players like Wade Redden and Sheldon Souray in the last couple of years stay buried in the minor leagues.

"Of course, there's been quite a few guys that have spent some time in the minors," he said. "It's not the league I wanted to be but at least I would have had a chance to play. Even over there, I would have probably just tried to play as well as I can play as well as I can and show everybody I should be somewhere else."

-- Less than two weeks after getting struck near his left eye and just one week after laser surgery to fix a torn retina, George Parros was back on the ice with his team in its spirited workout.

Twice hit by deflected pucks on shots taken by teammate Andrew Gordon in practice, Parros was wearing a visor and will be doing so in the foreseeable future after a surgery that he termed "was a pretty minimal procedure."

"It's interesting to play the puck on the backhand for me with the visor line there," said Parros, who isn't expected back into the lineup until early December. "I've got a couple weeks to get used to it."

Parros said wearing the visor for now is "just to prevent any other mishaps from happening while I'm out there." But one of the league's respected enforcers hasn't yet considered wearing one full time.

"It's just precautionary for now," he said. "I haven't decided whether I'm going to wear it during game play or not. We'll see. Cross that bridge when we come to it."

As far as Gordon, Parros joking said that the winger has the "hot stick" but hasn't held his injuries over his teammate's head.

"He feels guilty enough," he said. "It's not his fault at all. He did buy me dinner on the road. I took it and thanked him for it. That was about it."

-- Dan Ellis came off the ice during practice as his balky groin muscle acted up on him. With a potential start looming in the back-to-back scenario, the Ducks didn't want to take any chances on him further hurting himself.

"I knew there was a possibility that he was coming off the ice earlier," Carlyle said. "The opportunity for a back to back here is more important than a practice today."

-- Center Ben Maxwell has his work visa and was scheduled to arrive in Orange County early Tuesday evening. Maxwell is expected to skate with the Ducks for the first time Wednesday morning but isn't likely to play that evening at Staples Center.

"It's a little bit unfair to expect him to jump into your lineup off an airlplane tonight," Carlyle said.

-- Bobby Ryan sat out practice and left the area early due to flu-like symptoms. Nick Bonino, who's missed the last four games because of a knee strain, shed the non-contact jersey and skated on the fourth line.

-- Injured winger Jason Blake was around the dressing room and said that he's starting to get movement back in his left hand. Blake is expected to be out until late January after having tendons near his wrist sliced open when San Jose's Brent Burns inadvertently stepped on him during hte Oct. 14 home opener.

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